


Subtle Differences

by Forget_About_Me



Series: Omovember 2020 [12]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Desperation, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Omorashi, Omovember, Omovember 2020, Omovember Day 14, Pre-Het, Urination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27568654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forget_About_Me/pseuds/Forget_About_Me
Summary: The Doctor had left Gallifrey in search of a better life, and while he had definitely found that true in all the ways that matter, he had never expected it to be so difficult.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Martha Jones
Series: Omovember 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994284
Kudos: 13





	Subtle Differences

**Author's Note:**

> This does and doesn't fit the prompt. But I've had this idea for a while
> 
> **Prompt: Shy bladder/paruresis**

The Doctor had left Gallifrey in search of a better life, and while he had definitely found that true in all the ways that matter, he had never expected it to be so difficult.

Intellectually he had known that each planet had different customs and cultural norms. He had quickly learned that the way his foreign cultures class had explained most cultures weren’t exactly accurate. 

_Not even close if he was honest._

One of the biggest things was the difference in bathroom culture.

In the 700 years, he had travelled around the universe he had never seen a civilization go about using toilets in the way Time Lord society did.

Which, considering how toilet usage was done on Gallifrey, was a problem.

On his planet no one had used the same toilet, everyone just had their own private toilet, sometimes multiple if you travelled between cities a lot. Every Gallifreyan can sense whether someone else has used a toilet when they are close enough. Which in itself didn’t cause the issue, however, all children had been conditioned to not be able to use toilets used by others. It was strictly forbidden. 

This was something The Doctor had never even thought about until he had left Gallifrey. After leaving, he had suddenly been confronted with the fact that the Gallifreyan way was a pretty unique way of going about bathroom customs. Time Lords are the only ones that have the technology and senses to sustain it after all. He had known that bigger on the inside technology was unique for Time Lords, he had never stopped and considered that that was what allowed them to all have a private toilet.

The fact that he can go without the loo for about a week helped him in avoiding having to use a toilet others have used, but with his lifestyle, he obviously has been caught short before. More often than he would’ve liked.

This way he discovered that he can also approximately tell how many others have used a certain toilet and that he can just about manage to relax his muscles in front of lesser-used ones.

Obviously, this doesn’t cover him, not even close. After all, he often stays at hotel and inns with his companions when they aren’t in the TARDIS overnight, where the toilets obviously are used by a lot of different people. Not to mention the primitive times and planets he’s visited where the closest thing resembling a toilet is a hole in the ground if you’re lucky.

He hated those nights when his bladder is throbbing, and all he has access to is a toilet that has been used by a huge amount of different people, meaning that he could only dream of using it. Eventually, he had just given in and started trying to go anyway. It wasn’t as if he had anything better to do during the night.

Now centuries down the road, he sometimes manages to successfully use the toilet at a hotel but that’s generally only when he’s really desperate. And still, there are toilets he fails to use even if he’s bursting. He honestly doesn’t know how he’s never had a companion realize how badly he had to piss after those long and frustrating nights, where he had just stood in front of the toilet for hours.

_Without any result._

He’s somehow managed to avoid having an accident outside the TARDIS in all those years, not without suffering from some serious bladder infections as a result though. Not that he was ever going to tell anyone about _that_.

However, he couldn’t say that he had avoided accidents inside his ship. More than once his bladder had given out on him the moment he had privacy. Not that anyone would ever know about it, but it was rather embarrassing.

* * *

"Exactly why couldn't they have beamed us down from where they took us?" Martha grumbled. "It was their fault."

As soon as they had exited the TARDIS they had been teleported on some alien ship straight into some holding cell. It had taken a while to establish that they were not the fugitives that the police had thought they were.

After some several apologies they had been released, only to discover they were put back a good 100 miles from the TARDIS, which would take them a couple of days to walk.

"I don't think they realized that they put us on the wrong location." The Doctor answered. "And it's a bit too late to go back to them and complain."

"So, instead we'll just have an impromptu camping trip?" Martha surmised, "Do you have any camping stuff in those pockets of yours."

"’ Course I do."

* * *

The Doctor watched over Martha as she was slowly falling asleep, her face slightly lit up by the fire he had made earlier. He was leaning against the stone wall of the small cave they inhabited, knees pulled into his body. 

It was their second night out in the forest, having spent the better part of yesterday and today walking towards the TARDIS. By his estimation, it would take them about 2 more days before they reached the time ship. It was fine, as Martha had said earlier it was nice.

However, there was a bit of a problem. This meant that he had no access to the TARDIS, and by extend the comforts his ship offered.

_Namely, the toilet._

Not for the first time, he cursed his upbringing which made him reliant on his ship more than biology dictated. 

His bladder had first announced itself that morning, prompting a lot of mental curses. This was an unprecedented situation for him.

In his long life, he had never successfully peed in nature. Oh, he had tried a couple of times, but it had been hopeless. He needed a toilet, even a well-used one to have even a semblance of a chance of being able to go

He had been stuck in a situation before, having nothing but nature around him, so having no chance to go. But in all those situations the TARDIS had been close, allowing him to relieve himself a couple of hours later. While it certainly hadn’t been comfortable it hadn’t been a huge problem.

This time the TARDIS was still far away, he had never held his bladder that long. He honestly didn’t know if he could do it, but between that and him not being to let it go out here, he had no choice but to hold it.

* * *

Shifting his weight urgently, trying to get a bit more comfortable on the hard stone floor, The Doctor stifled a whine. After sitting there waiting while Martha rested, his bladder was now throbbing painfully, begging to be relieved. He didn’t know what to do, he had no access to anything that could help him.

Gasping slightly as a particularly urgent throb sounded from his bladder, he gave in and carefully got to his feet. Walking out of the cave as quickly as he could with his swollen bladder, he made his way over towards the tree line before nervously unzipping his trousers quickly pulling himself out less he made a mess of his pants.

As expected nothing came out as he tried to relax his bladder, he muttered out a Gallifreyan curse with a frustrated sigh.

Closing his eyes he tried to imagine himself standing in front of the toilet he had aboard his brilliant ship, it was a trick that sometimes worked in front of foreign toilets.

 _But he couldn’t_.

Opening his eyes, he glanced around him. It was too hard to fool himself that he was home, in the TARDIS. All his senses were contradicting that fantasy, the current environment not being close to what he had aboard the TARDIS.

 _He didn’t even have the mental connection with his ship to help him._ His ship too far away to reach him. She was silent in his mind except for the latent presence she always had in the back of his mind.

Whining in despair he pressed his free hand against the tree and rested his head on it, fighting tears of frustration. 

_Why was it so hard to just pee?!_

* * *

Despite standing there for a couple of hours, trying to somehow get his bladder relaxed, he walked back into the cave with an even heavier bladder than he had left with. His kidneys not having stopped producing urine while he was trying to get rid of the already existing. 

Martha was going to wake up soon though, so he had to stop trying and make sure he would be there when she woke up.

Sitting back down on the floor was torture, his bladder was screaming in complaint, but he was forced to ignore it. There was nothing he could do to soothe the ache.

He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to get up again without Martha becoming suspicious, once they would start moving again.

Beyond that, he had absolutely no idea how he was going to deal with the problem. He couldn’t fathom holding the ocean in his bladder back for the whole day, let alone the two days it would take them to get to the TARDIS.

And he hadn’t touched upon the issue of Martha not finding out about the issue.

_He was stuck._

* * *

Something was wrong with The Doctor. Martha was absolutely sure of it, she just wasn’t quite sure what the issue was.

When she had woken up he had been extremely tense, to hiding it behind a fake smile, she easily saw through.

After she had finished her breakfast, he had carefully stood up. Way too carefully, almost as if he hadn’t wanted to disturb his body. Making her very suspicious that he was injured or something. Which was worrying normally, but especially since they still had two long days of walking in front of them. Adding an injured Time Lord to that mix was going to make that extremely miserable, she was severe hoping she was just seeing things and that he was just fine.

She wanted to watch his movements as he packed away her sleeping bag in his pockets, to make sure he was fine. But she had to step out to pee, so she wouldn’t make him wait. 

She had promised herself to keep an eye on him during the day.

Observing him made it painfully obvious that he wasn’t okay. Besides the fact that he was in no mood to talk, something decidedly out of character for him, he kept wincing every other step. Beyond that, he was walking really slow. She let him set the pace like she normally did. Normally she struggled to keep up with his long strides but now she felt herself having to slow down, so he could keep up.

“What’s wrong?” She asked him after some contemplation, she couldn’t let this go on. If he genuinely was injured he shouldn’t be pushing himself just to save face. 

“What are you talking about?” He looked questioningly at her, but the effect was lost as he winced slightly.

“I’m not blind, something’s bothering you.” She stated, stopping in her track forcing him to stop as well, turning towards her.

“I’m fine.” He said through clenched teeth, which didn’t help his case.

Martha crossed her arms and rose a sceptical eyebrow, not convinced.

He just stared back at her, obviously not willing to give in. Turning this into an impromptu staring contest.

At least that was until she noticed that he seemed incapable of standing still, slightly dancing on the spot almost as if he...

“Do you need to pee?” She wondered, slightly suspicious.

The Time Lord stiffened, eyes widening slightly. “No.” He said a bit quick.

“Doctor,” Martha said in a warning tone.

“Martha.” He whined.

Martha let out a small sigh. “What’s stopping you?” 

He rolled his eyes “Nothing. I _don’t_ have to go.” His squirming was contradicting the claim.

“Yes, and I’m the king of England.”

With a frustrated sigh, he broke eye contact. “Can we just continue?”

“Doctor, just go pee.” She instructed him. “You can’t just ignore it.”

At that, his face broke. Distress suddenly plain on his face before answering in a high voice. “I can’t.” 

Gently grabbing his arm, subbing it soothingly, she felt her worry once more bubbling up within her. “How do you mean? Why can’t you.”

Bending over slightly, he crossed his legs. “I just can’t.”

“You can’t keep holding it.”

His head shot up at that, locking eyes with her. “I know that!”

She smiled sympathetically at him. “Talk to me. Please.”

“I just- can’t let go. I have never been able to. Not, out here.” He gasped, grasping at his crotch. “I can try for hours and-” The Time Lord sighed. “Nothing.”

“You’re shy?” She breathed out, in realization.

He shook his head, fighting a blush. “Not quite. Though I guess it’s comparable. It’s hard to explain. It has a different cause.”

He gasped slightly, fighting his desperation.

“How bad do you need to go?”

“I’m bursting.” The Time Lord admitted with a blush.

Martha bit her lip, contemplating what the best course of action was. Obviously, he had to go soon. “Okay, you’re going to have to try.” 

“I did that last night already!” Despite his words, he fumbled with his fastenings, turning away from her. Following her instructions anyway.

“You can’t not try, holding it in isn’t an option. Can I try to help?”

“How?” His voice sounded strained, his back turned to him.

“Just let me try.” She slowly, “Trust me.”

“Always, I just wanna pee.” He let out a whine.

Slowly she embraced him from behind, gently rubbing his abdomen. Hoping to get him relaxed enough to let go. “Shh, just relax.”

In the hope of getting him distracted from the situation she started telling him stories.

* * *

“So I had just finished completely covering my face with my mum’s makeup, and then suddenly the family dog came into the bedroom and knocked over all the bottles and such I had put on the floor for easier access. Staining the carpet with all the makeup. “She smiled into his back. “God mum was furious.”

“I can imagine. How bad was it?”

After standing there for quite some time, the Doctor had relaxed a bit, enough to respond to her stories. But he still hadn’t peed.

“The stain’s still there. Got grounded till I could pay back all that make-up. I naively thought my small piggy bank would contain it. So a couple of hours I excitedly went to my mum with it, thinking it would solve all my problems. Of course, 4 pounds 50 didn’t quite cover over 100 pounds worth of makeup.” She smiled at the memory.

He chuckled slightly before it turned into a moan. She heard hissing coming from him and realized with a breath of relief that he had finally started to pee.

Carefully holding up as he fully relaxed his body, sagging against her, she kept stroking his abdomen as he relieved himself.

Honestly, she was slightly surprised how much he had contained, he must’ve been pissing for over 3 minutes straight. After what felt like forever his stream finally stopped, she pulled away from him, immediately missing holding him. It had been kinda nice.

Not that she would say that out loud.

He turned towards her after straightening his clothes, a blush colouring his cheeks. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. That must feel a lot better.”

The Time Lord smiled slightly “Oh you have no idea. Onwards?”

“Onwards."


End file.
